K-pop band IZ*ONE blasted for Japanese members' 'right-wing' activities

A national petition has been launched against IZ*ONE. Yonhap

By Dong Sun-hwa

A nationwide petition started on Sunday to stop IZ*ONE, a Korean-Japanese girl group composed of 12 finalists from Mnet survival show “Produce 48,” performing on KBS's “Music Bank.”

“As many people know, 'Produce 48' is a result of collaboration between Mnet's 'Produce 101' and Japanese girl group AKB48,” the petitioner wrote. “AKB48 has been involved in right-wing activities and some members of IZ*ONE took part in a right-wing related concert.”

The petitioner added: “I believe it is problematic to preclude the group from doing commercial activities, but KBS is a national public broadcaster that receives TV license fees from citizens, so the group's appearance on KBS should be considered in a different way.”

The petitioner also wants the group stopped from performing on other national broadcasters including MBC and EBS.

Over 18,600 people have supported the petition as of Tuesday. The presidential office is obliged to deal with the issue if over 200,000 people sign it within 30 days.

But there are others who support the group and have launched petitions urging people not involve IZ*ONE in political issues.

IZ*ONE debuted with the lead track “La Vie en Rose” from its first album on Monday.